Hall leads Wichita State to 69-59 victory over Missouri State in MVC quarterfinals

ST. LOUIS – Carl Hall had 18 points and 12 rebounds as Wichita State defeated Missouri State 69-59 Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

Ron Baker added 15 points for the second-seeded Shockers (25-7), who will face sixth-seeded Illinois State in Saturday's semifinals.

Marcus Marshall led seventh-seeded Missouri State (11-22) with 25 points and broke the school freshman scoring record with 368 this season. Blake Ahearn (2003-04) had held the mark.

Anthony Downing added 12 points and Keith Pickens had 11 for the Bears.

Wichita State dominated the game inside, outscoring the Bears 36-18 in the paint and outrebounding them 43-24. But the Shockers didn't pull away for good until scoring eight straight points to take a 54-46 lead with 5:45 remaining. Missouri State never got closer than six points the rest of the way.